Zeta Wing (Gimle System)

Zeta Wing
Fighter	Raptor
Wingmen	Jeannette Devereaux
Objectives	Proceed to Nav 1 Escort the Exeter-Class Destroyer back to the Tiger's Claw
Notes	Proceed to Nav 1 Escort the Exeter-Class Destroyer back to the Tiger's Claw
Previous	Psi Wing (McAuliffe System)
Next	Omicron Wing (Gimle System)

Mission Layout

• At Launch from the Tiger's Claw
  • Wave 1
    • 2 Salthi
  • Wave 2
    • 2 Salthi
• Nav 1
  • Exeter to be escorted to the Tiger's Claw
  • 3 Jalthi

The Memoirs of Lieutenant Colonel Carl T. LaFong

I'd come down with a case of Grinard's Virus and was grounded while we were in the Gimle System. I wanted to fly a Raptor, but the virus affects your equilibrium and Halcyon had me working communications. It gave me time to hit the high score on the Train-Sim and hang around and jaw with the returning pilots. I was sick the entire time we were in system.

The first night, after my shift, I found Mariko and Angel sitting at a table and trading jibes with Shotglass. I walked in on the tail end of their discussion, just in time to hear Spirit send a final retort to the former pilot.

"If all-women wings had been allowed back in '38," she snapped, "this war would already be over!"

I walked over and took a seat. "Must have been a rough one," I remarked. That's all it took.

"Rough doesn't begin to describe it, Lieutenant." Spirit took a sip of her Special and stared straight down at the table. "The four Salthi that attacked as we launched from the Claw didn't create any problems, but protecting the Exeter at Nav 1 was like taking a ride through hell, especially when the two Jalthi joined the action. Thank Research and Development for the new full-guns option on the Raptor. It saved our necks."

Angel chimed in. "The enemy ships were blasting away when we arrived, and our taunts worked in drawing out the wing of three Salthi. We had them down in minutes, but the six-gun Jalthi were wreaking havoc. Spirit told me to break and attack, and I remembered that the Jalthi were the most heavily shielded and armored ships in the Kilrathi fortress. I went to full guns. The blaster power they require is impressive."

"On my first pass, I circled behind the Exeter, rolled in on the first enemy ship I saw, and opened up. I assumed that since full-guns included a mass driver, it would be effective at longer range. The problem was, the neutron was not useful at that range, and by the time I was close enough to be effective, my blaster power was too low to even fire a single damaging shot. Lasers against a 16-cm fore shield are like shooting cotton balls to stop a charging 5-ton draptil."

"If there had been just one more Jalthi in the wing," Spirit concluded, " the Confederation Exeter would be history. Fortunately, we learned our lesson quickly enough. Use full guns and save your blaster power until you can see the pilot in the cockpit. Then open up."